This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
This disclosure relates to guide funnels used to guide a piece of subsea equipment for connection to a wellhead, a mating component of a subsea stack, or to a blowout preventer (“BOP”) test stump.
Guide funnels are well-known in the art for guiding a piece of subsea equipment such as a BOP stack onto a wellhead. As the stack is landed, the guide funnel captures the wellhead and guides the stack along the funnel's taper until the wellhead and the connector are mated. Manufacturers and drilling operators also use guide funnels to guide a connector onto a mandrel.
Prior art guide funnels are single-body welded designs. This makes the funnels bulky, heavy, difficult to handle, and costly to make. Additionally, damage to any one part of the funnel may require complete replacement of the funnel. When used on a test stump, the stump's connector must be removed in order to install the funnel.
US 2013/0075104 A1 to Hughes discloses a guide funnel having a plurality of different diameter cylindrical sections which are aligned concentric with, and set inside, one another so that the funnel can be extended for use or collapsed for transport. While this funnel might be easier to handle in its collapsed state, the funnel is more complicated in design than the single piece funnels and shares those funnels' shortcomings in the other areas.